http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/18/premier-league-clubs-charge-600-children-mascots More than half the Premier League clubs have been accused of âexcluding families from poorer backgroundsâ after a Guardian study found that a few of them are charging as much as £450 for children to be mascots, with West Ham Unitedâs the most expensive package at £600. With the average price of a replica kit for a junior fan costing £65, according to the study, parents faced with forking out for matches over the festive period are having to count the increasing cost of following a top-flight club. 11 Premier League teams, most of whom have spent time in the Championship in the past 10 years, ask a fee for being a mascot on matchday. Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City both charge £450 plus VAT for their packages while West Hamâs prices range from £350-£600 depending on the fixture. The packages vary between £250-400 at Tottenham, £300-400 at Leicester City, £150-425 at Crystal Palace and £330-390 at Stoke. Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City also charge, while Newcastle Unitedâs corporate hospitality packages of £3,000-4,000 include mascot places. Some clubs, including Spurs, QPR and Newcastle, do, however, offer a number of free mascot places through competitions and charities. Others do not charge at all: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland. Clive Efford, the shadow minister for sport who is campaigning for fans to be represented on club boards, said: âI find it extraordinary that clubs which are getting so much money from TV rights then exclude kids from poorer backgrounds by imposing a fee. âIt means that a certain class of kids will never be able to be a teamâs mascot, and that doesnât seem fair when their clubs are earning so much money. It seems ridiculous that some will be excluded because their parents canât afford to put them on a waiting list.â The majority of the mascot packages include hospitality places at the designated match, a free kit, signed footballs, photos of the day, match tickets, and other benefits. Some clubs, including Swansea and Stoke, describe the deals as âgreat value for moneyâ and say that there are long waiting lists, yet supporters have questioned the need for Premier League clubs, many with super-rich owners, to charge such prices. Greedy bastards.
It provides such a tiny revenue that it's not worth it. 600x19= £11,400 per season, that one squad players wages for a week. It's just extorting families, it's disgraceful.
i'm the same its scandalous, i always thought clubs picked kids at random from supporters clubs, like the junior black cats that both my girls are members of
